TOMY Celebrates 20 Years of Pokémon

TOMY International, the master toy licensee and distributor for Pokémon in categories including figures, figure accessories, plush, playsets and role-play, debuts its all-new line for one of the world’s leading entertainment franchises. With 2016 marking 20 years of Pokémon, TOMY introduces commemorative products and celebrates this milestone with retailer-exclusive promotions throughout the year. On February 27, 2016 Pokémon celebrates 20 years since the first video games, Pokémon Red and Green, launched in Japan for the Game Boy system.

To celebrate, TOMY will release one retailer-exclusive Mythical Pokémon each month, from February to December 2016. In the Pokémon universe, Mythical Pokémon are considered extremely rare. Select Mythical Pokémon will be released as 8” plush in a special crushed velvet material, and as 2” pearlescent-finished figures with their own unique pearlescent-finished Poké Balls. In addition to the monthly Mythical Pokémon, various limited-edition Pikachu products will also be featured as retailer-exclusives throughout the year. TOMY’s attention-to-detail and unique stylizing captures Pokémon in a line that offers something for every Pokémon fan.

“The Pokémon property is seeing incredible momentum at retail and the 20th anniversary will only add more excitement to the brand for 2016,” said Shehnaz Safiuddin, Senior Vice President of Toy & Hobby at TOMY. “This year the Mythical Pokémon and retailer-exclusives will bring even more attention to the property and we’re thrilled that we get to bring the incredible Pokémon to life in a variety of figures, plush and more.”

“TOMY is giving fans a new way to celebrate 20 years of Pokémon,” said J.C. Smith, Senior Director of Consumer Marketing at The Pokémon Company International. “Their Mythical Pokémon and Pikachu products are a great addition to this year’s festivities.”

Over the past 20 years, fans have discovered over 700 Pokémon characters while buying more than 275 million video games and 21.5 billion trading card games. To commemorate 20 years of Pokémon, classic video games Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue and Pokémon Yellow will come to the Nintendo 3DS on February 27, 2016. Additionally, Pokkén Tournament for the Wii U will launch on March 18, 2016. Pokémon GO, a ground-breaking mobile game that will encourage fans to search far and wide in the real world to discover Pokémon, launches later this year.